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It has led to some criticising Gloucester for bringing in too many players from one country and some concerns over whether they will meet their English Qualified Player (EQP) target next season.

However, Gloucester chief executive Stephen Vaughan is adamant that the club are still committed to producing English players.

“We will hit our EQP number,” he told The Rugby Paper.

“Although it looks like we’re just bringing in South Africans, we’ve also signed Danny Cipriani and Matt Banahan and lost non-EQP players like Ross Moriarty, Richard Hibbard, Matt Scott, John Afoa, Motu Matu’u and David Halaifonua.

“If people are going to point fingers and say we’ve got five South Africans, it just feels a bit ‘Alf Garnett’.

Richard Hibbard.

“When we had Moriarty, Hibbard and Owen Williams nobody said we had too many Welsh lads. Johan’s just added some lieutenants he knows personally so there’s no issue.”

Here, we take a look at what the arrival of the five players from South Africa will mean and whether it could cause any issues to Gloucester’s EQP target.

What is EQP and why is it important?

Clubs have a target of an average 15 English-qualified players per matchday 23 for Premiership and European competitions, which is tied into the level of funding they receive from the RFU.

The rewards for meeting the target are thought to be fairly substantial so it is a huge boost in the current financial climate with inflated salaries and Premiership clubs regularly making losses. Gloucester were £1.2m in the red in their latest set of financial accounts.

And of course the more that are involved each week is better from an English rugby point of view to ensure a high number of international quality players are coming through and given the chance to play regularly.

Last season, Gloucester had on average of 16.38 English qualified players in their 23 and had at least 15 in all 22 Premiership and nine European Challenge Cup fixtures, the highest figure being 18.

Meeting the EQP target is often a key consideration in selection and recruitment plans.

Clubs still often recruit from overseas though by bringing in players who qualify for England through their parents or grandparents.

Gloucester captain Willi Heinz, Josh Hohneck, Tom Marshall and Jason Woodward were all born in New Zealand but all fall under the EQP quota, the latter earning a call-up to England’s squad for the summer tour to South Africa although he is yet to win a cap.

Who will be the non-EQPs in the squad next season?

Gloucester will have 10 non-English qualified players in their senior squad next season. As well as the five new South African signings, Ruan Ackermann, Jake Polledri, Mariano Galarza, James Hanson and Owen Williams remain.

So, if they are going to meet their target no more than eight of those 10 players on average should be selected for each matchday squad.

How does it compare to last season?

John Afoa of Gloucester

Despite the fuss over an influx of South Africans, Gloucester will actually have fewer non-English qualified players next season so Vaughan makes a good point.

Most of the departing players aren’t English with seven internationals moving on – New Zealanders John Afoa and Jeremy Thrush, Wales’ Ross Moriarty and Richard Hibbard, Scotland’s Matt Scott, Tongan David Halaifonua and Samoan Motu Matu’u.

Jake Polledri was English qualified up until he made his Italy debut against Scotland in the Six Nations in March.

On the flip side, Paddy McAllister was not English-qualified last season but should now qualify on residency rules as he joined Gloucester in 2015 and has not represented Ireland – he has played for their Under-20s but not their nominated second team, the Wolfhounds, despite once being named in the squad before injury struck.

So, will there be any impact?

Vaughan has a strong case regarding the number of non-English qualified players who have left Gloucester but it’s worth looking a bit closer at each of those individuals to understand the full picture.

With the exception of Afoa none of the other players to move on were regular first XV players last season, particularly by the end of it - only Matu’u and Thrush (a late change on the team sheet) were part of the matchday squad as replacements for the European Challenge Cup final against Cardiff Blues.

Afoa made 27 appearances in Premiership and Europe out of 31 fixtures, Matu'u 24, Thrush 21, Hibbard 20, Halaifonua 13, Scott 10 and Moriarty four, a total of 119 for an average of 17 for each player or 55 per cent of games.

Jaco Kriel of South Africa

The new South African arrivals, with Kriel, Mostert and Dreyer bringing international pedigree, will all be expecting to cement themselves in the first team picture so, although there are fewer of them, if they were to each play 24 games in the same length season as an example (or 77.4 per cent of games), the overall figure would be higher than the cumulative appearances of those leaving.

That total of 91 appearances makes a slightly higher average (18.2) than the departing players, even with Hanson, a late arrival from Australia, and Polledri, who went onto establish himself during a breakthrough Premiership season, not making their debuts until October.

Both would be expected to play more next season and that would also be the hope for Galarza, who did not play until December due to injury, while Williams will want more action to be part of Wales’ 2019 World Cup plans.

It means Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann could face some difficult dilemmas over who to leave out of his 23 if everyone is fit and available but that is a big if given the high rate of injuries in rugby.

There are also other factors to consider. Mostert is unlikely to join the club until October as he should be part of South Africa’s plans for the Rugby Championship and he could miss further games during the autumn internationals with the rest of the South African contingent also hoping to force their way in Rassie Erasmus’ plans.

Polledri will probably also miss some Premiership games now he’s part of the Italy setup, while Williams is still in the Wales frame.

Franco Marais

Looking at the non-English qualified players by position, there’s effectively ‘doubling up’ in some areas –two hookers, three in the second row, three in the back row, one prop and a fly-half/centre.

As was the case last season with Hanson, Hibbard and Matu’u, the two hookers in a full-strength squad will be overseas players with the addition of Marais, leaving up to six places elsewhere.

Rotation is likely to come into play with Ackermann showing last season he likes to tinker with his side and he does have the luxury of being able to call on some strong English talent.

There are unlikely to be many occasions, for example, that the three locks of Mostert, Grobler and Galarza will all be in the 23 with the reliable pair of Ed Slater and Tom Savage also in the frame, while the likes of Lewis Ludlow, Ben Morgan and Freddie Clarke will all be pushing for places from number six to eight.

Which players could it impact the most?

Mariano Galarza

A look at the appearance figures from last season immediately points to Galarza and Williams as the players most at risk of missing out if the EQP quota is an issue.

Although Galarza missed a lot of the season through injury, having two non-English qualified players in Mostert and Grobler coming in means the Argentina international faces a battle for his place.

Williams never really got going in his first season at Gloucester despite his undoubted talent and will be hoping for a strong pre-season to get a run of games under his belt early on with the suggestion he could play more at 12 after the arrival of Danny Cipriani.

But Gloucester already look strong in the midfield with the likes of Billy Twelvetrees, Mark Atkinson and Henry Trinder enjoying strong seasons so Williams could be the odd one out if everyone is fit and available.

It could prove to be a bit of a juggling act for Ackermann but the depth of talent at his disposal and the general nature of player availability means it should not be a problem.

There might even be some weeks when he can afford to use more than eight non-English players in the squad and, although there's a chance that the average number of English players involved could go down, Gloucester should be able to hit their EQP average target comfortably as it averages out over the course of the entire season.